Thanks, Mate
by Heart of a Music Box
Summary: In a fiery battle with a worthless foe, Captain Jack is mortally wounded. Will Turner tries desperatly to save him, and comforts him in the process.


**Thanks, Mate**

The battle was intense and disturbing, mainly because the opponents had come from absolutly no where. The crew of the Black Pearl had never even seen the other ship, named the Temptress, before, let alone battled against it.

Now, the members of the Pearl's crew were fighting vigorously, sometimes accidently slicing one of their own by mistake.

William Turner II fought like a dignified, British man, unlike his crewmates who fought like gorillas. He managed, through swashbuckling with as many as five enemies at one time, to keep his eyes on his captain. Jack Sparrow was in a large pickle at the moment, from what the former blacksmith saw, facing off against ten pirates. Indeed, the Temptress's crew had them outnumbered ten to one.

Will knew he needed to help Jack, but there were just too many enemies to cut down in the way. He was in a heated one-on-one duel with a huge, hairy, ugly pirate when he heard the roar of pain.

He knew that voice. Knew it absolutly anywhere.

Jack.

He stabbed the hairy pirate through the skull and threw his gaze to the helm, where a horrifying sight bestoyed it. Jack Sparrow, captain of the Black Pearl, survivor of Davy Jones's locker, had been stabbed clean through the gut. He was now shaking violently, trying to pull the offeding cutlass out and hacking red liquid from his mouth with each tug.

Now abandoning his sword, Will rushed through the crowd of fighting pirates, ignoring the small stabs and cuts he was receiving.

Finally climbing the steps to the helm, he caught sight of the Temptress's captain, who was, ironically enough, a fiery woman. Said woman was currently laughing sadisticly at the pirate she had stabbed, blathering on about how she'd 'finally gotten her revenge'.

"You bloody wench!" screamed the former blacksmith, jamming the blade of his dagger all the way to it's hilt in her chest. Her laughing ceased immediatly, but the insane smile never left her face.

Turning his attention to the wounded captain, he realized Jack was still attempting to tear the sword from his stomach. "No, Jack!" he yelled, kneeling beside his fallen friend, "You're only making it worse."

Two tired-looking, brown eyes met Will's black ones, with a gaze torn between agony and fear.

"But I don't want to...to die." The man's voice sounded frightened and helpless, differing greatly from his usual witty, sarcastic tones. The sound of it ripped painfully through the younger man's heart. "If you pull it out, you'll injure your insides. Let me try."

The fear in Jack's eyes only intensified as Will wrapped his strong hands around the golden hilt of the saber. "This'll hurt, I'm sorry."

Will's hands shook slightly, from fear he might cause even more harm. Truth be told, he hadn't a clue what he was doing. He did know that, if Jack continued to attempt ripping it out himself, he would surely seal his fate, but if Will were to pull it out cleanly, there was a chance, right?

He forced his hands to stop trembling as he tightened his grip, and yanked as straight as he could. Jack let out a piercing, high-pitched shriek he'd never admit to uttering as the blade slipped out of his body. He slumped backwards, the agony leaving, but a dull sting taking its's place.

He moaned in agony again when Will attempted to get him to stand. "We have to get below, Jack," he said in a calming voice, "I need to do something about this injury before you..."

The younger pirate trailed off. He'd wanted to say 'before you die of blood loss' but the words had been caught in his throat. He couldn't picture life on the Pearl without Jack, it was unthinkable. Jack Sparrow and the Black Pearl. The Black Pearl and Jack Sparrow. The names ran together instantly, like magnets.

Hoisting Jack's half-limp arm over his shoulder, Will grabbed that wrist and pulled an arm around Jack's other side, careful not to touch or compromise the wound. Shielding the wounded man from the fighting best he could, Will pulled Jack down to the crew's sleeping quarters and laid him gently against a sack of flour.

"Alright, now hold still, and no falling asleep!" he barked sharply, for the dreadlocked pirate's eyelids were drooping.

"Doin' my best, mate." came the weak reply.

Will dug through the piles of things until he came across a heap of bandages, in various states of cleanliness.

Another agonized moan from the captain pushed Will to grab the cleanest one in sight and rush back to his friend's side. "Here, now we can fix this." he whispered, trying to sound more reassured that he actually was. He pulled Jack's jacket off and spread the sides of his white (so dirty it didn't appear so) shirt. The angry, red-and-black wound was not a reassuring sight. "By the gods, how did this get so big? The sword wasn't that wide..."

"She twisted it around." Jack gasped, the injury's bleeding speeding as he did so. Working quickly, Will began wrapping bandages around and around Jack's torso. Seeing as he couldn't get them all the way around with the captain laying against the wall of the ship, Will had to have him leaning against him, sort of holding him upright.

As soon as the bandage was fully wrapped around the wound, Will laid Jack back down against the sack gently and assesed his work. Some blood was still seeping through the cloth, taunting him with it's bright red against the white fabric. Desperate, he clawed a blanket off the nearest hammock and wrapped that around the bleeding man too.

Blood was no longer visible, and the rooky pirate felt sure the bandages were tight enough to cease it completely.

"Hm, you work fast in b-bad situa-ations." Jack stuttered a bit as he talked, a small line of blood ran down the side of his chin, catching in the dreadlocked beard. "No talking," Will scolded, wiping the blood away with his sleeve, "It'll make things worse."

"I feel so bloody useless," Jack muttered, settling back against the flour sack, "Sitting down here bleeding while the rest of me crew fight. What sort of bloody captain am I? No wonder the mutinied me all those years ago."

"Your a great captain," the younger man whispered, settling himself back against the wooden hull of the ship, holding his knees loosely, "Barbossa was just a power-hungry fool and your former crew were no better." Will could vaguely understand how Barbossa and some of the other crew would have gotten fed up with Jack's sarcastic, annoying, secretive demeanor, but leaving him on a desert island with a pistol with one shot, to kill himself or starve or die of thirst, it was just sick.

"Norrington was right when he said I'm the worst pirate, I mean, look at me!" Jack laughed bitterly, "Taken down by a women." he spat at the dusty floor.

"And Elizabeth," he continued, a bit louder, "Was wrong in saying I'm a good man. I've violated every law in the bloody book. I've even betrayed when I didn't want to, to save my own stinking skin. How is that being a good man?"

Will was now fed up with his captain's self-loathing rant, and let him know it. He placed a hand on both of the older man's shoulders and looked him square in the eye. "Now you listen to me, Jack Sparrow," he hissed seethingly, mentally applauding himself at the surprised look on Jack's face, "You are a good pirate and a good man. You came back and rescued us all from the kraken. You didn't deserve Elizabeth tying you to the mast and leaving you. And you are probably the best friend I've ever made in my entire bleedin' life! Is this sinking in?" A weak nod told him it was.

Jack drew in a shuddering breath, and Will noticed, for the first time since they started talking, the red stain coming through the blanket. "Damn it!"

He tore the sheet of fabric away to find a large amount of blood soaking through all the bandages. "God, what do I do?!" he screamed, head falling limply on the now dying captain's shoulder.

Then, in a voice barely a whisper, came the words "William? You forgot t-t-to call me ca-captain Jack Sparrow."

The Pirate Lord of the Caribbean drew in his last breath. "Thanks, mate."

And he was gone.

**A/C: Ok, so I've never done anything other than Gravitation yaoi fics, so tell me what you think! It's my first time NOT writing a romance or a lemon. This isn't slash, it's just strong friendship. I can't believe I killed Jack! apologizes But I thought the drama would add better spice to the story. Reveiws please! Oh, and no flames!**


End file.
